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Monday, April 29, 2013

PENSION ADVANCE

by Ellen Devlin

“A review by The New York Times of more than two dozen contracts for pension-based loans found that after factoring in various fees, the effective interest rates ranged from 27 percent to 106 percent — information not disclosed in the ads or in the contracts themselves. Furthermore, to qualify for one of the loans, borrowers are sometimes required to take out a life insurance policy that names the lender as the sole beneficiary. LumpSum Pension Advance and Pension Funding did not return calls and e-mails for comment.” --NY Times, April 27, 2013


Tattooed ticket- taker,
here to loot-
( tasteful tattoo and
a well-fitting suit ).

Amusement park ride,
your body goes faster-
speed of aging,              
speed of disaster.

Kid takes your pension
he's saving you? It's 
a few more Doritos,
maybe fix your car, too.

Pulls the bar down,
your strap doesn't work?
106% interest-
a short ride to broke.

He's yanking your floorboards,
what's left of your teeth,
Get out of that car!
Kid is a thief.


Ellen Devlin is a poet and an artist who sometimes mixes the two. She has studied at Bread Loaf and at the Hudson Valley Writers Center.